Everest Base Camp ain't walk in the park

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  Everest Base Camp, Nepal
Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Everest Base Camp. Check! That being said, this wasn't the easiest thing I've done in my life. I came back 5kg lighter and fitter than I've been in my entire life. Perhaps stubbornly refusing to hire a porter and caring my 12 kg backpack all the way had something to do with it, although it is quite possible that the no-alcohol diet enhanced by my lack of appetite above 5,000m, and the uphill trek had it's share. I made the trek to EBC in 8 days and made it back to Lukla in 3.   
 
The trip starts off as a very pleasant trek through spectacular scenery. The sun is shining and the skies are blue. It's picture perfect. However, as soon as the sun goes down, the temperature drops down to around 0C, and much below 0C as you get closer to EBC. I've never been so cold in my life. The lodges are not heated, so I was not particularly looking forward to going to bed. I was taking the camera batteries with me in the sleeping bag to preserve them from discharging from the cold. One of the memory cards froze up and I lost some pictures. Around Dingboche (4,410m) I developed an annoying cough from the cold and the dust. Not much grows above 4,000 meters and the trek gets dusty. At the same time, the air becomes thinner. The air at EBC is half the density of the air at sea level.
 
Everyone's concern was High Altitude Sickness, which is at it's best a big headache and at it's worse lethal. There is no telling who is fit for high altitude and who is not. Turned out - I was good to go. There is no cure for the altitude sickness other than going down quickly, preferably over 1,000m. Some guys couldn't go past 4,500m. My guide, a self confident asshole who I clearly didn't get along with, actually got sick with the altitude right before EBC, so I had to do the last leg of the trek by myself. Then we had to rush back to safe his sorry ass. His pain was mostly self inflicted, as he was smoking and probably drinking way beyond Namche Bazar (3,480m) where most people have their last drink and smoke.
 
Luckily, there were tones of people doing the same trek, so I actually had a really fun time. I met many fun people from all over the world, many eastern Europeans and even a Bulgarian guy who was traveling solo. My favorite of all people - Nikita and Jenia, free spirited Russian guys that were headed to Gokio - a trek less traveled, but allegedly prettier than EBC. We had many drinks and some smokes together in Namche and later in Kathmandu, which had disastrous, but thankfully temporary effects on my health. I've never had such a solid prove that alcohol and cigarettes are bad for you. I have not had a cigarette since Kathmandu.   
 
Enough of this blubbering. Hope you enjoy the pictures without freezing your chops.
 
Yak cheez, Vik

Post your own travel photos for friends and family Pictures

Bottle at EBC (5,545m)	Same bottle in Tengboche (3,870)	That same bottle with EBC air in Lukla	Flight from Kathmandu to Lukla
Lukla airport	First day of trecking	Still lush and green	Yaks
Tibetian prayers on the rock	Stupa with prayer scarfs	Many rivers to cross...	Prayer flags over the bridge
I needed a prayer to cross the first one ...	The reward was a pretty water fall	More mountans and rivers	A deserved tea break
Day 2 - first glimps of Everest	Arriving in Namche Bazar (3,480m)	Street life in Namche	Spacious accomodation
Namche from above	The toun is almost above the clouds	More of Namche	Prayer wheels at Namche Monastry
Spin it babe	Making friends with the locals	Prayer flags above Namche	Drying yak sh*t. It's used for fire.
Religious painting on the rock.	Reflecting on life?	More prayers	layered land.
Rock prayers, this time in colour	Prayerd and mountains	On the way to the Everest View Hotel	Taking teh scinic rout
Is this realy the road to a 5 star hotel?	Stupa down in the hills	Stareway to heaven?	Would love to check in here...
Everest was in clouds, so I took this pic instead	Nanchevado?:)	Last glimps of Namche	Tengboche (3,870m) , tents and Everest
Tibetian Monastry at Tengboche	Tengboche Monastry 2	Tengboche Monastry 3	Tengboche Monastry and Vasili being stupid
Tengboche Monastry 4	Tengboche Monastry - monks prayer	Tengboche Monastry - monks prayer 2 hours later	Stupa and a prayer wall
Prayer wall - always to be pased on the right	Porter	My new friend Genu	Genu and his porter friends
Stupas look like mountains	Yak	Picks	Yak train
Me and my backpack	Chhukung - an hour uphil from Dengboche (4,410)	My favorite photo!	LLobuche by night (4,920m)
The memorial field	Yes, there were some Bulgarians too	Bringing down the chopper...	Last effort. Walking over CUmbu Glasier to EBC
Walking on ice, only thick one...	When will this rock fall?	This one is safe:)	Genu was keeping me a compny on the trek to EBC
Striking an alpine pose	We made it! EBC.	Genu striking a pose with my hiking pole.	Cookie time!
I didn't feel like cookie. Unbelievable!	Me and a hungarian gall I met on the trek.	I look okay, but I really feel crappy.	More pose striking infront of the Ice Fall
The Ice Fall and the Cumbu Glacier	Almost back to Gorak Shep (5,160m)	6:30 am., Almost at Kala Patar.	As miserable, cold and tired I've ever been.
Back to Gerak Shep, more cheerfull on the downhill	The cymbol of Nepal - a phasan bird	And while we are snapping photos....	...there is something happening on the hill.
A massive avelange!	My favorit pick - Ama Dablam	Fogg and yaks go together	Sunrise over Ama Dablam - the END

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